More than a quarter in 2009 spent three days or less in palliative care

11:20 PM,
Feb. 5, 2013

Liz Murphy sits in her room June 7 at the Hospice House in Concord, N.H.

Written by

Janice Lloyd
| USA Today

Twice as many elderly people died in hospice care as in a hospital or nursing home compared with a decade ago, but hospice is often treated as a last resort - and used too late to benefit patients and their families, said a study being released Wednesday.

The researchers examined Medicare records for 840,000 people 66 or older who died in 2000, 2005 and 2009. They found intensive-care use, hospitalization and the rate of health care transitions increased in the last month of life before patients entered hospice. Length of stays in intensive care also increased.Not used as intended